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Edited by Hawpy:
7/13/2015 10:59:37 PM
329
Why are Scout Rifles so rarely seen in Crucible?
Scout Rifles are currently the second-least used weapon type, ahead of only Sidearms that have been in that game for ~7 weeks, as opposed to just over 10 months. What I want to know is: why? They answer several problems and complaints that people seem to have at the moment
Snipers OP - Scout Rifles are the only weapons that can actually compete with Snipers at long range reliably, so why are they not used?
Thorn needs a range nerf - see above
Auto Rifle buff - Some of the high RoF Scout Rifles can be rolled with Full Auto to provide a weapon that fires faster than a Focus Fire Auto Rifle of the SUROS Impact/RoF denomination, while also dealing more damage and having more range, so why not use them? Good examples are the Deadshot Luna and the NL Shadow. Makeshift AR right there.
Thorn/TLW are broken with 2-shots - High impact Scout Rifles can score 3-hit kills that no one can complain about, hell, The Scholar can 2-shot. If you're looking for a counter, try MIDA Multi-Tool, the hidden talent of High-Calibre rounds and the speedy movements it allows for turn you into a someone that screams "You can't beat what you can't hit"
If you were to ask me (here we go, yet another opinion), I think the reason behind their disuse is the abuse of Shotguns. I shan't lie, there is no worse weapon to be caught using than a Scout Rifle if a Shotgun comes round the corner, ready to blow your head off. I'd be very interested to know anyone else's reasons and thoughts on the matter.
Perhaps, if nothing is going to be nerfed, a slight Scout Rifle buff is in order? The last one was in October and has shown no signs of increased usage
Edit 1: It's great to have found a plethora of Scout Rifle users like myself, and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading and debating the points raised here. For now, I'm going to sleep, so will be unable to reply to any of you for the next few hours (rest assured, I shall do my best to get back to you ASAP). Thank you all very much for keeping this post as active as it has been!
Edit 2: The answer I have been given many times now is "Why use them when Hand Cannons are available?". This is exactly the problem the Crucible faces at the moment. A Scout Rifle requires precision and nerve, but Exotic Hand Cannons can be put to stellar use by just about anyone, so there is no incentive to not use them - the bad players use them in hopes of raising their K/D by using something overpowered, and the good players use them so they don't fall behind to everyone else using the same weapons. Someone I used to be friends with, and now despise, has a K/D of 3.97 and 41942 kills with The Last Word, almost double the kills I have in Crucible full stop. From what I understand, he's ranked the 11th best player in the world (according to DestinyTracker). Combine those kind of stats with the sheer numbers of people using TLW/Thorn, it amazes me that this has gone on for so long.
Edit 3: Seriously, massive thanks to everyone who has kept this in the "Trending" section for the last 15-16 hours, stoking the fire of debate with each new point raised. I owe you all one :D
Edit 4: Out of curiosity, I'm wondering who has seen Datto's video that complains about the current state of Crucible ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHenCd2BWNQ for those of you who are interested and yet to see it). It sums up pretty much every non-Scout Rifle related thing I could say, and unlike myself, he's a big enough personality in the community to cause a change
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The Scout Rifle is my most used primary and I have over 2K kills with it, so I can speak from the point of view of someone experienced. Here's why they aren't used: -Snipers: they are a scout rifle, but better. One shot to the head and two shots to the body at longer distances, as opposed to scout rifles taking multiple headshots or multiple bodyshots to kill someone. In a long range scenario, it's not practical since you can't move quickly enough to take cover before getting headshotted or double-bodyshotted. The sniper, however, has a lot more time to move because you have to chain several shots. Basically snipers are more lethal, never suffer from damage dropoff, they give you more room for error, and are harder to defend against as opposed to scout rifles --ARs: this is only the case because ARs suck. The only reason you [i]ever[/i] see as scout, even occasionally, right now is because Auto Rifles aren't as prevalent. Before 1.1.1, ARs were easier to use than Scouts at any distance, more versatile, quicker killing, and suffered nearly no damage penalty. -Hand Cannons and MIDA: the issue is that [i]all[/i] Hand Cannons have the same flinch multiplier as the MIDA (with its hidden High Caliber rounds perk). Other Scouts are below this flinch multiplier and given that Hand Cannons are easier to use, kill quicker, and are effective at both long and close ranges (scouts are only good at medium-long range, they suck at close range). -Shotguns: this is another problem related to map design and the hipfire performance of Scout Rifles. As you may know, most Scouts have a high zoom multiplier and so scoping in when you're getting rushed is very impractical. You're left with the option of hipfiring, which is absolutely terrible with Scouts because of incredible amounts of bloom when hipfiring, as well as a terrible reticle that doesn't help with aiming at all. I would say change the hipfire reticle to being like Pulse Rifles, and reduce the bloom on hipfiring a bit.
